This blog has nothing to do with gorillas (though I love 'em)...fellow bloggers have inspired me to share vintage images of Disneyland from my personal collection. But don't be surprised if you see something from a World's Fair, Knott's Berry Farm, or someplace else that is cool!

Sunday, January 11, 2015

I never get tired of photos taken from the Skyway, at least then it comes to heading through the nostrils of the Matterhorn. In this case our bucket is moving away from the mountain toward the Tomorrowland terminal. It looks like the Matterhorn was carved from moldy Swiss cheese, a greenish and weird.

Say, what's that I see in the lower left corner?

Oh man…. I remember accidentally letting go of my balloon at Disneyland. It seemed like we watched it get smaller and smaller for SO long. I'm getting tears in my eyes just thinking about it.

Luckily, there are beautiful merms in the Submarine Lagoon - they never fail to cheer me up.

8 comments:

"Oh man…. I remember accidentally letting go of my balloon at Disneyland. It seemed like we watched it get smaller and smaller for SO long. I'm getting tears in my eyes just thinking about it."

"Luckily, there are beautiful merms in the Submarine Lagoon - they never fail to cheer me up."

There is a pattern...

Ah but anyway. What's that beside that mermaid? The drier mermaid that isn't doing the push-ups. A basket of colorful... what? Dinglehoppers? Those sea-shell shaped soaps? Did they entertain with juggling? Are they having a mermaid equiv of an easter egg hunt? Are they innocuously disguised rocks a mermaid can lob at any unsatisfied husband rabid enough to make lewd calls or attempt to ford the lagoon?

If they brought mermaids back, would it be a tie in with Radio Disney featuring their latest models as a multi-ethnic group of mermaids to a Radio Disney soundtrack that would cut costs by scaring the Abominable Snowman back to Switzerland and keeping the lagoon filled with tears of pain from all who venture into that third of the park? And what is the Matterhorn made of nowadays since it doesn't look like concrete or rock?

We may never know. But we do know that day in July 1967, at least one parent was sorry they sunk their change into a balloon and two young ladies were being paid to sunbathe in the warm California sun - such was the range of tragedy and bliss to be found at Disneyland in the summer of love.

I've always wondered the same thing. I assumed it had to do with the "paging" speakers on each tower; or the anemometer attached to one of the towers; or the automatic safety system which would shut down the ride if wind, or riders, create excessive movement of the cars.

Other sky rides can be seen using "the third wire", so it must perform some important function or functions.

Nanook, if the park had combined mermaids with balloons, all wars would have ended, forever.

Chiana, well I was kidding about the tears in my eyes, but November and December were rough, for reasons I won't go into here. Everything's OK though. The mermaids had harps and combs and mirrors, and maybe other props too. These days I hate even guessing what they would do if the merms came back; seems that almost every decision they make leaves me nonplussed at best. BTW, I also let go of a balloon the moment I exited the car when we got home. My parents should have learned to tie the things to my wrist!

K. Martinez, I sure don't know what the middle cable was for. Now it's going to drive me crazy!

Chuck, you are channeling Melissa!

Chuck again, those cast members in the Matterhorn break room didn't always want to play half-court basketball. Walt had the middle cable installed so that they could watch HBO. What else were they going to do, run the cable up the side of the mountain?

Nanook, why would anemometers - placid creatures found in tide pools - have anything to do with shutting down the Skyway?